OMG I am so glad I found this thread. I had never heard of stratons before, and spent the last couple days researching them. I am returning these 10 unopened radion xr15's and now have 5 stratons coming. 5 stratons sandwiched in between 6 kessils I think will hit all the sweet spots of shimmer, sps-growability, and room aesthetics.
This is exactly what I’m thinking about doing. In my case, I’m returning two 48” ATI SunPower T5 fixtures and buying 4 stratons and putting A360x’s in between them.
Unfortunately not near Texas.........sounds like if these Stratons really take off there could be a lot of lighting gear sitting around homes!
I’m with AI!!!!!So I’ve probably read just about every post out there on Kessil lights versus Radion lights and have concluded both company’s have extremely loyal fans. Both can growth corals, but use different approaches/technology and go about it in slightly different ways including the applications they run. What is most interesting is the “look” debate which seems to often come down to the Kessil Shimmer versus the Radion coral pop. Ok, please before anybody starts debating me on the term Radion “coral pop”, I’m only using it as that is often how its described on these forums. So now to my question....is there any reason why I can’t use both?. I want both the Kessil shimmer (but not a lot) and the Radion coral pop. One other thing you should know, I will be using ATI SunPower ATI T5’s (two 8 bulb fixtures)- these I have already bought and installed. My custom tank is currently being built and will be 365G (96” L x 34” W x 26”H). So what I’m thinking about doing is using a combination of 8 Radion X!5 Pros - 4 side of each of thank with 8 Kessil A360X’s in-between. I’ve included a drawing here to help make myself clearer. Is this an absolutely stupid idea of does it have some merit if I want shimmer plus pop. One final thought, if I went with Kessils only, will 16 T5 bulbs be enough to tone down the kessil shimmer - I do want some shimmer. So let the debate begin....
I personally am going for the lesser side of shimmer like in your second video...how is that done?
I already have the kessils, at 100% intensity they are still not nearly enough light for my tank. I have sps frags that are alive on one side and dead on the other from shadowing. If the stratons add an evenly spread blanket of light that corals love and a clean look to the room, I'm sold whether they need to be turned down or not.
Im confused as to what this has to do with the OP's suggestion to run a completely unnecessary number of kessil, Radion, and ATI fixtures.
Oh, my understanding from post 42 is that OP is just going kessil+straton. But yes I agree the first post layout seemed overkill.
You will definitely have a tank that will be great to look at and the corals will appreciate
Nice! I believe Anthony @ycnibrc is using the same combo.Had a similar dilemma with my build earlier this year. I decided to go with the Orphek large Panels for the heavy lifting and the Kessils for punch in the blue spectrum (kessils has a very wide spectrum according to BRS) and shimmer. I happy with the result and so are my corals... It has a 14k look to it...or and ice white. I dont like the heavy blue look in reef aquariums as it appears un-natural to me.
Not completely, while most LEDs have spectrums that are adjustable there is a reason why "Premium" LEDs command a higher price.... They normally have a much a wider spectrum and can grow corals better than others (See g4 pros Vs. non Pro G4). Not to say you cant grow corals with lesser LEDS (We know that corals can adjust) but imo this is the main difference between legacy lighting tech (Metal Halide, T5) vs. Leds... they may have spectrum advantages, therefore grow corals better. In my own personal experience moving from Non Pro G4's to Orpheks.... my corals grow much faster and better under Orpheks than non pro radions; if i had to guess, its because of the spectrum. I know that on the spectrum front Leds are catching up. In the past this was also the same reason why we used to use multiple legacy lighting tech (VHO, metal halides, T5's), it gave the aquarist the look and spectrum to satisfy corals growing in the aquarium.
Long story on the lights, but I'm happy with the final solution.
Yes, I understand premium lights and own premium lights. I don’t see why you need to combine perfectly fine the lighs with another brand when they are already combined with the T5’s. I see no use. Radions will grow corals just as good by themselves as radions will with some kessils. It just seems pointless to buy a bunch of random units. Whenever you want to adjust your lights, you have to do it twice.
Like the way you mounted everything looks really cleanHad a similar dilemma with my build earlier this year. I decided to go with the Orphek large Panels for the heavy lifting and the Kessils for punch in the blue spectrum (kessils has a very wide spectrum according to BRS) and shimmer. I happy with the result and so are my corals... It has a 14k look to it...or ice white. I dont like the heavy blue look in reef aquariums as it appears un-natural to me.
